


Don't Get Lost In Heaven

by Icandigelvis



Category: Buzzfeed Unsolved (Web Series)
Genre: Alcohol, Demon Shane Madej, Demons, Horror, Infidelity, M/M, Or At Least I Tried
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-24
Updated: 2018-11-25
Packaged: 2019-08-28 21:54:08
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 14,259
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16731327
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Icandigelvis/pseuds/Icandigelvis
Summary: When a guest star on the show insists that Ryan and Shane partake in some weird sort of summoning the results by the end of the night isn't what any of them expects.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Yes, hello, hi. I've had this on my mind for a while and I eventually sat down to write it. I hope you like it~
> 
> Disclaimer: This is fiction. The people in this story are fictional and are not mirroring real life, but rather based of off characters from the bfu media, if that makes sense. What I mean is; if RPF au isn’t your thing, please don’t read.

Ryan gasped, sitting up before he could even open his eyes. His apartment was dark, the dimmed light by the dresser the only source of light. Fourisly blinking he tried to remember the nightmare that’d just woken him up, eyes stuck on the open bedroom door in front of him. He could see the hallway, the end of their dinner table, and the kitchen clad in darkness somehow appeared more intimidating than ever. Was someone there? Under the table, watching him, or standing behind the curtains, only shoes peeking out.

“Ryan,” someone mumbled sleepily beside him and Ryan glanced at his girlfriend to his left. She kept her eyes closed, most likely tired from her late working hours. Ryan hadn’t even woken up when she got home. He was annoyed she hadn’t closed the bedroom door, like he’d asked her to do multiple times, but wasn’t in the mood to start an argument. She placed her hand on his knee, most likely to soothe him, and he stared at her painted nails. Red.

-✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*-

When Alex reached out to them, via Buzzfeed’s official email and research team, Ryan was first worried. First of, it was odd that he wouldn’t contact Ryan himself, via twitter or business email, but that he’d contact the team in such an official way. It was the reason Ryan was convinced the guy actually hadn’t watched much of the show, if any. Shane had shrugged, coffee mug in hand. “Do what you wanna do, man,” he’d shrugged.

Ryan had gone with it, sending a go-ahead email to the team.

Alex Harlow was a ghost investigator for a tv show on FOX called Haunted Hunt, which clearly wasn’t shying away from editing materials and faking apparations. Ryan had researched a little bit and got a recommendation to watch ‘ _Top 10 Fake Ghosts on Haunted Hunt_ ’. So it wasn’t boding too well.

The man was still a big deal, even if the tv series numbers had gone down with recent years, and Ryan liked the idea of having a famous guest.

So Ryan had gone with it, giving the team an ok.

It was another haunted location which story gave Ryan the creeps. A country house which used to belong to a family by the name Chackel, located a couple miles from the nearest town; smaller than a mansion but bigger than a regular villa. Its white paint was stripping from the boards, Ryan watching Shane pull some off by the door. Alex was finishing his banana, throwing the peel into the bushes beside him.

Since TJ was still sick and Devon busy with other work Mark had come with them alone, leaning against the car while fiddling with the settings on his camera.

“Okay,” Ryan started, getting their attention, “So we’ll shoot a bit when we enter and when we explore downstairs. I’d like to run through the story downstairs as well, if we can find someplace decent to sit down.”

Shane gave a thumbs up while Mark nodded as Ryan turned to him.

“Sounds good, man,” Alex said, patting his belt where his EMP reader was attached. Mark handed Ryan the envelope they’d received from the owner of the property, an older woman who lived in town. She had urged them not to go to the Chackel’s house because of it’s bad energy, and while Shane had rolled his eyes Ryan had felt unsettled during the entire drive out here. They were to return the key the next day, free to explore the house on their own for the night. Usually there were more people on set and Ryan somehow felt like clarifying that to Alex who looked a little cocky. There were probably a bunch of people on their sets, Ryan assumed. They had compared equipment on the way here and Ryan couldn’t help but to be impressed by all the ghost hunting tools Alex brought and told him about. He’d been a little in awe, to say the least.

Mark started filming as Ryan walked up to the Chackel’s house, taking out the key. It was cold and heavy in his hand as he reached for the door. “This really feels like a bad idea,” he said, Shane snorting by his side.

The branches of an old apple tree rasped against the side of the house, moving with the wind, and Ryan watched Mark get a shot of it.

Inside it didn’t really look uncaredfor, and rather clean. Sure, the furniture was old and worn and the window to their right was smashed, plastic covering the hole. But it looked better than the photos Ryan had seen online. Then again the old lady had told them she had a cleaner visiting the house once a week, so it made sense.

“This place has a seriously bad energy. Ryan, I feel like some scary shit went down here,” Alex said, still standing by the door. Ryan had to press his lips together when he saw the face Shane made behind Alex’s back.

They got some shots downstairs, the house appearing even larger while inside. The living room was divided into two rooms, and while it was clear personal belongings and smaller objects had been removed in case of break-ins, the rooms still appeared somewhat luxurious. The fireplace was empty of any decorations and the small nail in the wall above it held no painting. Ryan stared at the wallpaper, the pattern of green flowers growing in intricate ways, the detail incredible. It was peeling in several spots, having been put up many, many years ago.

The dining hall held a grand, wooden table that almost looked recently polished. Nothing sat atop of it and the faded spots on the walls created from shadows of paintings long gone gave the room an eerie feel. Ryan somehow felt like he was intruding on someone’s home, someone who was in the midst of moving. Alex said the room gave him a bad feeling, the corner by the fireplace especially, and Ryan couldn’t help but to eye the spot.

“Well, why don’t we sit down,” Shane said and took a chair, Ryan laughing as he couldn’t get the chair out properly. In the corner of his eye he noticed Alex wasn’t laughing but was instead watching Shane in silence.

The story was that a bunch of mysterious murders had happened about a hundred years ago, and the lack of documents or evidence from the murders was the reason they hadn’t visited this place earlier. They never found any journals in the house, even though the mother’s sister had insisted she always kept one. The local news paper from the time had covered the case a lot but it was clear they lacked evidence or clues to even start somewhere. What they did know was that a young girl had drowned in her bath, most likely not on her own account. About a year later the family had all been murdered, found by the father’s cousin a couple weeks after their death. His description from the police reports of what he’d found were not pleasant and even Shane frowned when Ryan told him the story. Alex nodded seriously as Ryan spoke, skimming through his notes on his phone.

Mark gave them a quick heads up he needed to check the microphone volume and Alex took the opportunity to ask how much time Ryan spent investigating the cases beforehand.

“We have a research team now who checks the stuff and all the legal info, you know,” he explained.

“Oh so you didn’t start out on your own?” Alex asked, adjusting his hat.

“Oh no, I did. In the beginning it was just me sitting by my desk researching creepy murder cases,” Ryan laughed.

“We’re seated beside each other in the office,” Shane added, “So he would have me check over some of the cases too. I thought you were a little too obsessed with these creepy cold cases,” Shane admitted, chuckling.

“Well, it’s an odd interest but look where it’s gotten me now,” Ryan argued with a grin.

“That’s true,” Shane shrugged.

“I think it’s great, Ryan,” Alex said, “It’s not only informing for watchers but it’s also helping people in serious danger.”

Ah, yeah. Ryan forgot for a moment that Alex’s show Haunted Hunt also focused on releasing lost spirits and exorcising demons. They hadn’t planned to do any of that today, it was just a one-time short episode with a guest as they explored a haunted mansion.

Ryan wasn’t sure what to reply to that and was thankful when Mark announced he was finished, leaning over the camera to press record again.

After Ryan had told them about the gruesome murders and how there was no suspect he suggested they moved upstairs. Shane walked first, fixing his harness for his GoPro as he walked up the stairs. They stairway was wide but Ryan settled for walking behind him nonetheless. It was now pitch black dark outside and Ryan clutched his flashlight tight, feeling his palm sweat already.

The upstairs foyer was grand, a persian carpet larger than Ryan’s living room floor placed in the centre. The pendant lamp was still there above them, made of glass with painted patterns. Ryan hadn’t seen any lamps downstairs but it didn’t really matter since the house didn’t have its electricity turned on.

“So this right here, to the left would be the bathroom,” Ryan sighed, gesturing to the door. Shane turned to open the door, Ryan biting his lips as he glanced inside.

“Don’t worry,” Shane and Alex said at the same time.

“Nothing can hurt you,” Alex continued, ignoring Shane. He entered the room first, Ryan watching Shane give him a short look. Okay… so Alex had some sort of issue with Shane and Ryan couldn’t understand why. Was it because Shane would crack jokes and deny supernatural existence? Possibly, but Alex also seemed so cool. Sure, he had douchebag tattoos and was the star of a ghost-hunting show which seemed to fake most of it’s ghost encounters, but he was nice and seemed to genuinely believe in ghosts and demons.

“How old was the girl again?” Shane asked as they stared at the bathtub, the blue tiles cracked and faded with time.

“Eight years old,” Ryan sighed.

“Eight. So she wouldn’t have been able to drown like perhaps a small child could’ve,” Shane concluded. Ryan nodded, absently swallowing. A sudden bang had them all turning around, Ryan staring at Shane with wide eyes.

“Calm down, it was probably just the wind,” Shane said, even Mark nodding behind the camera.

“There’s something demonic here. The history, it all feels too… evil,” Alex concluded and Ryan agreed, shuddering at the thought of the girl being drowned by any of her family members. The house had an eerie feeling about it, and it didn’t help that their flashlights casted shadows on every wall when they walked out of the bathroom.

“So this is where Mrs. Chackel was also found then? By the guy?” Shane asked as he turned to record Ryan.

“Yeah, he saw the younger son downstairs in the kitchen, the mother was lying here in the doorway, naked.”

“ _Naked_?”

“Well yeah, she was probably bathing or taking a shower you know. And on her way out,” Ryan trailed off, eyeing the wooden threshold.

A moment later they crossed the hallway to the room across; the children’s room. It was cleaned of nearly any furniture, just a rocking chair in the corner along with the two beds, just the metal frames left.

“Well this looks bare,” Shane said, recording out the window of the room.

“It’s certainly unsettling.”

Ryan suggested trying the spirit box but he couldn’t get any voices or anything in but static so they decided to try in another room, Ryan figuring it would be cut from the episode. Alex tried with his EMF reader however and the thing gave off some loud beeping. Shane clearly wasn’t impressed and after a couple minutes they headed over to the bedroom.

The room was large, about the size of the dining room downstairs. The bed had plastic over the matress, an old wooden four poster. The glass window was dusty and Ryan glanced outside, the moon visible in the sky behind some clouds. He waved for Mark to get a shot with his camera.

The room was cold, somehow colder than the other rooms and Ryan absently shivered.

“I was thinking we could do a mock summoning here,” Alex said, crouching on the floor to put down his shoulder bag. Ryan blinked, aware Mark was recording him and replied with an unsure and sort of comic “Uh, okay, sure.”

“So,” Alex started, “what a mock summoning, or summoning lure is, it’s kind of a mocking display for hateful spirits, ghosts and demons to show themselves, a bit like a trap. We don’t want to summon any new demons-”

“-Yes, let’s please not do that,” Ryan intervened, looking worriedly at Alex who chuckled lightly.

“-but we want to get them to show themselves, for us to see if there are any evil spirits here or not.”

As Alex got out two candles from his bag Ryan watched him, still feeling a bit confused.

Shane suddenly lowered his camera, turning to Mark. “We didn’t agree on doing any summonings or playing ouija board,” he said, clearly annoyed.

Ryan watched Mark shrug before Alex looked up at the two, a weird look in his eyes.

“Are you scared? I promise nothing will be able to hurt us, it will be trapped,” he said.

“No, I’m not,” Shane laughed but Ryan could tell it was forced. What was wrong with him?

“I think it’s rather phoney and I’d rather we tried to keep the show at least a little down to earth,” Shane continued, crossing his arms.

“It doesn’t hurt to try, does it? If your team doesn’t like it they can just cut it, right?” Alex said, not even momentarily stopping in the midst of his preparations as he lit the candles while speaking.

Shane sighed loudly and looked at Ryan for help. Ryan spluttered a little, looking at Mark instead who was still filming. “I don’t know, it’s worth a try, right? I think it could be cool.”

There was a stiff silence in the room for a couple seconds before Alex stood up and clapped his hands. “Well. Let’s then stand here in the middle and I’ll conduct the mock summoning.”

Ryan walked over to him, careful to not knock over one of the two candles, standing beside Alex. He looked up at Shane who stood by the doorway beside Mark, still unimpressed. Ryan gave him a look, feeling annoyed with his sudden defiance.

“Can’t I just record instead?” Shane asked, staring at the candles like they offended him.

Alex looked at Ryan who frowned, “Shane, come on.”

His tall friend sighed and then walked over.

Mark gave the sign he was shooting again, getting a pan of the room before focusing on the three men in the center. Alex explained for the camera what he would do, Ryan asking him about the candles and the old book Alex read from. When he took out a large metal canister of salt Ryan noticed Shane fidget beside him.

While reading from the book Alex walked around them, starting to pour the salt into a not-so-round circle. Ryan watched Mark walk over to the corner of the room to get a wider shot, nearly disappearing in the dark.

Alex’s verse was cut off right in the middle of a word as the door to the room slammed shut. Alex looked up from where he was crouching on the floor with something that looked like determination in his eyes.

“What the fuck man,” Ryan breathed, his hands holding the camera shaking. “That was not just the fucking wind.”

Alex resumed reading from the books, the words seeming to blend into each other. Was it even English anymore?

Ryan’s flashlight went out as on cue when Alex finished and closed the book. Ryan couldn’t help himself from jumping in shock and started cursing as he tried clicking it on again. “Shit, shit, shit.”

With quick movement he watched Alex jump forwards and over the salt circle, turning to Ryan, catching his eye.

“Ryan. Come here, quickly. Don’t break the circle,” he said and Ryan didn’t like his tone.

“Jesus Christ, man,” Ryan breathed as he walked over the line, looking around the room as if something would appear out of nowhere.

“This is stupid,” Shane said, arms by his sides and flashlight pointing to the floor.

“Step over the line, Shane,” Alex said in a much different tone, his voice suddenly low and serious.

Silence fell over the room and Ryan gulped, taking a step back as he held his gaze towards the door, still shocked by the way it closed. It had to be the wind, right? He turned around, waiting for Shane to join them.

He didn’t.

Ryan frowned, holding up his camera but looked up when Shane still wasn’t moving, just looking straight ahead at Alex.

“Shane?”

“Step over the line, Shane,” Alex repeated, twirling the lighter in his hand. Ryan raised an eyebrow, glancing at Mark to his left who was still recording, camera covering his face.

Then Alex spoke again.

“You can’t, can you?”

Ryan stopped fiddling with his flashlight to get the batteries out as he felt a shiver run up his spine. He watched Shane sigh then turn to meet Ryan’s eyes; he looked drained.

“Can you just play along for my sake, for fucks sake,” Ryan hissed, making a mental note to remind the editors to edit this part out. He wasn’t sure why Shane was being so childishly defiant in this episode.

“He can’t step outside the circle, Ryan,” Alex said, something like excitement in his voice, “I was correct, wasn’t I? I caught you.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Shane said, his eyes still on Ryan, like he was trying to convey something. The room was so dark behind him with Ryan’s flashlight still out.

A loud crackle suddenly broke the silence, like something snapped and exploded right in front of Mark. Ryan jumped with a scream, watching Alex stare wide-eyed towards Mark who had lowered his camera and jumped back. Ryan brought his arms around himself and suddenly realized the temperature in the room must’ve dropped severely in mere seconds, watching mist form in front of his mouth as he exhaled.

“What the-” he whispered and then watched Mark fall back against the wall, his camera falling to the floor in shock. Ryan ran around Alex in a second, crouching in front of Mark who looked horrified where he pressed his back against the wall.

“Mark? Jesus, what the fuck is going on! Are you okay?” he asked, probably quite loudly, as he grabbed for Mark’s hand. He watched in shock as Mark silently leaned his head back, like he was cramping, mouth wide open as only quiet coughs came out. Then he grabbed around his own throat, holding on tight.

“Break the circle! Ryan!” Shane yelled behind him, Ryan glancing over his shoulder at Shane who stood as close he could but with the salt line in front of his shoes. Were they all playing a trick on him? Would they take it this far?

Alex looked stumped for words behind him and Ryan cursed, “Come over and fucking help me, I think he’s choking,” he yelled, turning back to Mark to tug at his wrists. It couldn’t be a prank, Ryan realized as Mark was starting to get red in his face.

“For fucks sake!” Ryan yelled, feeling his panic growing even further. Why was neither of them doing anything?

“There’s two,” Alex suddenly breathed, “There’s two of them in here,” he said, then turned to point at Shane. “There’s another one in here apart from you.”

“Let me out,” Shane said, almost a growl and Ryan had never heard him so angry.

A dark shape caught Ryan’s eye and he did a double take before watching _something_ , a crouched figure in the corner by the bed. It crawled forwards, elbows and limbs thin, crackling as it made its way forwards, it’s bright, shining eyes on Ryan. With a yell Ryan tried grabbing Mark and pull him back but it was as if he was stuck to the wall. As Ryan threw himself backwards he watched the crawling figure grab it’s crooked fingers around Mark’s jacket, sliding behind him as if the wall didn’t exist. It moved in the darkness, looking like it would pull the trashing Mark into it.

“Break the fucking line!” Shane yelled again and the creature snapped it’s eyes towards Shane, hissing towards him. Ryan watched in shock as Shane growled back, exposing his teeth like an angry dog.

“I’ve got this, Ryan. Don’t break the line,” Alex said as he straightened up, like he finally shook of his surprise, pulling out his cross necklace from his shirt. He reached inside his bag for a second before he pulled out an antique looking bottle with a cross on it.

“Release him, demon,” Alex barked, opening the cap as he splashed water towards Mark and the creature still holding onto him.

Ryan was still on the floor, feeling a slight pain in his right palm. He must’ve scratched his hands on the rugged wooden floor.

“That won’t do shit, you idiot,” Shane yelled in annoyance, “Ryan!” Shane continued and Ryan turned to him, mouth still gaping, fear in his eyes. Shane gave him an intense look, as if urging Ryan to focus. “Break the salt line or Mark will die.”

“Don’t!” Alex yelled, still splashing water towards Mark on the floor. He wouldn’t get too close and was mostly jumping around a little on the spot. The creature was making noise, small hisses and mumbles, but it didn’t seem the holy water was doing much.

“What-” Ryan heard himself breathe as he blinked, snapping his head back to stare at his friend who was still sputtering on the floor.

“Ryan, he will die if you don’t help me get out,” Shane yelled and Ryan stood up as on command.

“You-” he breathed, fingers shaking as he stared eye to eye with Shane. The candles were still lit by his feet and his face looked more haunting than ever.

“You’re a… a d-” Ryan gulped, too afraid to even say the word.

“I would never hurt you, Ryan, you know this. Let me out and I’ll save Mark from fucking suffocating and then we can talk.”

“Why should I believe you?” Ryan asked, shocked at his own bravery. “How can I?”

“I have never hurt you or anyone on the team, I’ve kept real demons away for fucks sake.”

“He’s lying,” Alex said, grabbing the back of Ryan’s jacket. “You can’t trust a word a demon says. He’s just trying to get out of the trap.”

Mark suddenly inhaled loudly, coughing and Ryan watched the creature tighten it’s hands on his shoulders, eyes blinking in the dark. He then heard something he’d never heard before. It was a foreign language, sounds sharp and hissing as Shane turned to speak towards Mark. No, to the creature. Definitely the creature as it hissed back, a gurgling noise escaping Mark again.

“Promise me you’ll help him,” Ryan cried, turning to Shane again. He’d already made up his mind as things clearly weren’t going well, but he had to get some assurance.

“I swear. Ryan, I swear on my name,” Shane hurried, leaning down to set down his camera and flashlight on the floor. As if he was ready to sprint on the track field.

“No, I won’t let you,” Alex yelled, turning to throw more water towards Mark before tugging Ryan back.

“Fuck,” Ryan got out as he quickly shrugged out of his jacket, Alex pulling it off him as he ran forwards and finally kicked away some of the salt, knocking over one of the candles in his hurry, breaking the line.

Shane moved faster than Ryan’s eyes could keep up with but as he fell into one of the bedposts he turned around, watching the scene in front of him with wide eyes.

Shane grabbed right into the darkness, a high-pitched scream erupting in the room as crackling and wind noises escaped the two. The flashlight on the floor was pointed towards Alex who stood by the door, holding his bottle in a steel grip, eyes large with fear.

Shane was speaking in the unknown language again and Ryan watched in shock as he pulled his arm back from Mark and held it over his head, pulling out a dark shape of flailing limbs with it. The hissing coming from the creature was horrible, Ryan twitching with all screams. It was all too dark to see but Ryan narrowed his eyes to make out the large forming mist around them; coming from the floor itself. Or was it smoke?

As Shane held the thrashing creature above him Ryan could tell it wasn’t that large, and the thin limbs reminded him of a small child. Black fire suddenly erupted from Shane’s arms, the flames reaching upwards as if hungry. On Shane’s command they finally fully engulfed the creature. Ryan realized he was holding his breath and gasped loudly, noticing in the corner of his view that Alex turned to him.

A loud crack, much louder than the earlier ones erupted from nowhere and Ryan twitched, instinctively reaching up to cover his ears as he watched in shock as Shane threw his arms down, the dark smoke falling off him and curling on the floor.

It seemed like time stopped for a moment, Ryan yet again holding his breath, before Shane moved and bolted over to Mark. Ryan got to his feet in a hurry and ran over to them, watching the other pat Mark’s cheek.

“Is it gone?” Ryan breathed and Shane nodded, still checking their camera man over.

“Mark’s breathing- and he’s got a pulse,” Shane said, checking his neck, “He’s just knocked out.”

“Fucking shit,” Ryan exhaled in relief.

The sound of the doorknob being furiously pulled behind him had Ryan glancing over his shoulder, watching Alex furiously pull on it. Shane slowly stood up from his crouch, his eyes now on Alex.

“Get the fuck away,” Alex threatened, backing away as Shane walked towards him.

“Don’t-,” Ryan started but wasn’t sure what he wanted to say. He settled for calling Shane’s name in a pleading voice.

He watched Shane walk up to Alex who eventually hit the wall, holding out the cross on his neck, preaching bible verses with impressive speed. It didn’t seem to do anything though as Shane reached forwards to press his hand to Alex’s forehead. Ryan felt his pulse speed up as he waited for whatever would happen next. And it didn’t take long before Alex’s knees seemed to give up, his body falling to the floor in a less than gracious heap.

As Shane turned around Ryan got to his feet, watching him cautiously. His legs were full of adrenaline and Ryan knew he would try to run the moment Shane moved.

“He’s just sleeping,” Shane explained. He didn’t try to walk forwards and instead waited. Ryan appreciated the space as he tried collecting himself.

“You’ve got some explaining, big guy,” Ryan demanded, pressing his hands to his sides as he noticed they still shook.

“That’s fair, but do you want to do that here?” Shane asked, sounding like his old himself.

Ryan took a deep breath before pressing his lips tightly together, agreeing.

-✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*-

The car ride back was awkward to say the least. The air was stiff and Shane was silent where he drove. Ryan was in the front passenger seat, staring at his open palm in his lap, the splinter now removed and the bleeding probably having stopped. He was holding a coffee-shop printed napkin against it.

Mark was still knocked out in the backseat.

They had left Alex in the house, something Ryan felt sort of terrible for doing. Shane said he’d erased his memory, like it was just something casual and easy he could do. He had been carrying Mark to the car, laying him down in the backseat while Ryan watched him with caution. As he’d sat down in the car Ryan felt compelled to check his phone for the emails he’d sent Alex. He was both shocked and not to discover there were none. Like it all never happened.

“You know,” Shane started, eyes still on the dark road,” this might be a weird way to do this but I’m gonna ask you for your opinion here. I am probably supposed to- I should probably just erase your memory here, too. But I’m hesitating… What do you think?”

Ryan’s first instinct was to straight out refuse but he took another moment to think about it, and it would… in a way be much easier. It made sense.

“I don’t want you to,” he said, trying to sound serious and to hide any fear he still felt. He had to prove he was taking this seriously but while he had calmed down since the entire ordeal he was still on edge. In his opinion it was fucking understandable.

“You know, I have to admit, I’d thought you’d be a lot more upset,” Shane said, turning onto a main road, following behind a truck with red lights shining up their car. Ryan absently moved his hands in the light, his skin appearing to be red.

“I’m still upset,” Ryan admitted. Lying would be useless. “But I think I’m more… I’m still a bit in shock.”

“Well, how about this. You think about it. If you feel you don’t want to delve into this world I’ll turn it back for you in less than a second,” Shane said.

“Okay,” Ryan agreed, his voice quiet in the car. “But d-don’t just do it out of nowhere. Promise to ask me first.”

“Sure,” Shane supplied “Of course I trust you not to tell anyone. And trust me, if you do, you’ll end up as option one as well.”

Ryan stared at the road, a shiver running down his spine. It wasn’t really a threat, more like a promise, or an assurance.

“I won’t.”

“And I believe you wouldn’t, but I’m telling you anyway.”

As they arrived to the motel Ryan silently went to his room after making sure Mark was safe in his bed. Shane told him they didn’t need to make up some story to Mark and Ryan eventually gave up, throwing his arms up in the air in defeat. He was sure Mark would wake up with several questions, but he had to admit, he didn’t exactly know how this worked.

Ryan wasn’t completely over his initial shock, and he still didn’t understand how it all had happened. He sat on his perfectly, wrinkle-free motel bed, legs crossed as he stared at the contents of the bag on his table. The key to the mansion was gone and so was the envelope. He assumed Shane’s doing.

Dragging a hand over his face Ryan sighed, pulling at his hair. It was all just too fucked up to process. And it was nearly four in the morning he noted as his phone lit up to notify him of some Twitter mention. And even after all that had happened Ryan would’ve expected he’d have a hard time sleeping, but then fell asleep in seconds. Perhaps also Shane’s doing.

-✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*-

Maybe it was with subconscious intent, but Ryan chose a public place. There was a small cafe in town they’d walked by yesterday, opposite the motel, and Ryan picked it as the place for brunch. Mark had announced he felt sick, battling a headache, and stayed in his room. Ryan had a hard time hiding his relief when he spoke to their cameraman, who seemingly acted like nothing had happened yesterday other than them going out for drinks. He was a little weirded out by Ryan’s unusual cheerieness to seeing him, however. Shane explained on the way over that Mark needed time to heal from the entire ordeal. The thing that had attacked him Shane called an evil entity, but childlike in nature. He didn’t know more than that or he decided not to say; he certainly seemed rather un-interested in the creature, Ryan noted.

“A cafe,” Shane suddenly said,” I know why you picked it.”

He was resting his head in his hand, stirring his coffee with the other. The cafe was mostly empty, a younger girl with headphones by the door and some people coming in every now and then to take to-go coffee. The barista was an old man with his hair tied at the back who probably owned the place, considering his age. He made a really good chicken sandwich though, Ryan thought.

“Perhaps it was unconscious,” Ryan supplied and Shane shrugged in reply. It probably wasn't though. Ryan just didn't want to be alone with Shane at the moment, even if he didn’t fear him like death itself any longer.

“I’ve… I’ve had this bad feeling in my stomach the entire morning. Are- are you sure Alex is okay?” Ryan asked with a frown, picking up his own coffee, the ceramic mug still burning warm.

“Yes. He’s probably on his way home. I imagine he would want to get away from there,” Shane said conspicuously and Ryan raised an eyebrow.

“Can you, like, manipulate anyone? Everyone in here?” Ryan asked, waiting tensely for a reply. The barista started the skimming machine, the sound nearly making Ryan jump. The girl was tapping away on her keyboard and a car drove past, gravel rippling under the wheels.

“Mhm, to a degree,” Shane said, finally meeting Ryan’s eyes. “But it wouldn’t serve any function.”

“Can you read minds?” Ryan felt this question was kind of important to at least get out of the way.

“No, and I don’t think I’d want to. Would you?” Shane raised his eyebrows and Ryan released a short laugh.

“No I wouldn’t. Imagine all the dirty thoughts people have.”

“Exactly,” Shane mused, taking a sip of his own coffee.

Somehow the entire scene suddenly got to Ryan in that moment and he released another defeated laugh, removing his cap to drag a hand through his hair.

“You’re a demon, right?” he asked, just getting it out.

“Yes, but you already put that together,” Shane said, tilting his head a little.

“I can’t fucking believe it. And people literally told us. What are the fucking ods- are there more demons? Like around?” Ryan asked, his words blending a bit together at the end of the question.

“Not really. I haven’t seen many since I moved to LA,” Shane shrugged.

“So, like… no one at Buzzfeed?” Ryan asked, worry in his voice evident. To his surprise Shane leaned back and laughed loudly.

“No, God, no.”

“Wha- Why’s that so funny? It’s a legitimate question, man. I don’t know this stuff,” Ryan exclaimed, bunching up his shoulders in defense as Shane continued laughing.

“Oh Ryan, I think you do. As a ghost hunter, you know.”

“Fuck off, Shane,” Ryan grunted but he was still sort of relieve, “Also, how can you say God? No, how can you get inside churches?” Ryan asked, eyes widening as he remembered. He quickly tried going through whenever he’d done something that would threat Shane as a demon.

“Churches are fine,” Shane waved, “They’re so mixed up in what’s occult and not today and the most they do is make me uncomfortable. For fucks sake, there’s apps for the Bible people use instead of the actual book. But Father Thomas description of making the eyes roll back was good though, I can imagine that actually happening to some creatures of hell,” Shane said, looking to the side in thought.

“Goatman’s Bridge,” Ryan frowned, suddenly wondering if everything yesterday was a prank. Was it something with the salt?

“Ryan, look at the video, the salt falls through the boards. It’s not keeping anything out nor in,” Shane said, smiling at him.

Ryan pouted, crossing his arms. He remember commenting on it back then but that it had been cut.

“But you can touch salt?”

“Sure, it’s not painful in that way, you know I love fries.”

Ryan grimached, feeling even more lost than before.

“Okay,” Shane huffed with a smile as he saw Ryan’s frustration on his face, “I’ll try to explain. Your image of the occult, of demon and angels, it’s not entirely correct. I’m a demon from hell, that’s true, put a salt circle around me and I’m trapped, true too. Modern churches don’t do nothing, ghosts don’t exist in the way you think, angels are just as real as me but they haven’t been on earth in thousands of years as far as I know. They don’t care about humans, hell, they don’t really like you. So it’s free for _us_ ,” he said, pointing to himself, “to climb up and enjoy life here,” Shane explained, leaning back in his seat.

“And even if angels did walk the earth they wouldn’t scare me, but they do scare weaker creatures, like entities,” he added.

“Ghosts don’t exist? How?” Ryan asked, frowning further.

“They aren’t here. They go either immediately up or down and in rare, very rare exceptions they might stay for a little while. Someone will come and get them though. If you’re unlucky you might drown in the ocean and then you’re closer to hell, so even if you were a good little human hell might grab you first.”

“So hell is,what, literally under us? At the center of the globe?”

“Well no, under the platform that is earth. Earth is flat, you know,” Shane said, raising his cup to take a sip.

Ryan gaped at him in silence before a small snort escaped Shane. Ryan rolled his eyes, embarrassed he’d even entertained the thought. “You asshole, Shane.”

“I’m sorry but I was curious if I could fool you into anything.”

Ryan finished the last of his sandwich, getting a text from Mark to get them something to-go. He looked outside the window at the small town, the drizzle of rain having started a couple minutes ago. The motel was straight across and a gas station next to it, already having Christmas lights up. Or perhaps they were there all year around.

“Is God real?” Ryan asked, arms unknowingly tightening around himself.

“I don’t know,” Shane replied and it seemed genuine.

“How can he not, though? With things like angels and demons existing, I mean.”

“Well,” Shane paused, tapping the table, “I don’t think it’s all from here, as in this universe. I think me, my guys from hell and the angels came from somewhere else, somewhere that wasn’t in contact with earth and all your planets before.”

“The planets in our solar system aren’t ours, though.”

“You named them,” Shane smiled, “You call it ‘your’ solar system.”

Ryan bit his lip, watching a woman hurry outside in the rain, her daughter following behind, clearly not as bothered by the rain.

“So… like another dimension?” Ryan asked.

“Sure. We’ve been here a while though. But somehow your ideas of us aren’t entirely correct but not straight up wrong. I don’t know much about the above but hell isn’t full of fire and lava. It looks more like a LSD trip with neon colours.”

“Are you fucking with me again?”

Shane laughed, “No, I’m actually not. It’s a little like a negative world of this.”

“But what do you do with the bad guys? Hell exists for sinning humans to get punished there, right?”

“Don’t think so highly of yourself, Ryan,” Shane snorted, straighten up, “It’s my second home, we don’t exist purely for your sake.”

Ryan was stumped for a reply and just got out a stutter of words.

“Now, there’s demon’s down there who stay to keep the them in check but the harm humans do is mostly to themselves and others. It’s almost a sort of anarchy. A neverending existence in the same room as other murders, rapists and swindlers with the added bonus of all pleasurable emotions gone. It drives most of them nuts,” he shrugged.

Ryan shivered at the thought. “So nothing of people being set aflame?”

“Not that I’ve seen. It’s pretty cold down there actually,” Shane said, finishing the last of his coffee. Ryan picked up his mug and did the same, the liquid at least sort of lukewarm still.

“So you don’t really want the humans, then? You just sort of get them dumped into your home?” It didn’t sound like a good deal at all to Ryan.

“In a way,” Shane chuckled, “But it’s more like we want them first, and then we’d like to get rid of them but we can’t. It’s like bananas; you get-”

“Bananas?” Ryan asked, unimpressed.

“Yes, bananas. Listen. You get a banana, yummy, right? You eat the banana but you then can’t toss the peel away. You sort of have to keep it around and it never recycles or disappears, it’s just there now.”

“So… you eat their insides?” Ryan asked, feeling himself exhale. A customer entered the store and the bell rang.

Shane smiled in a sort of eerie way as he tilted his head a little. “Their souls.”

-✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*-

“So who goes to hell?” Ryan asked as soon as Mark left the car. They had stopped at a gas station when they were halfway home, Mark insisting for a toilet brake. Ryan was in charge of driving, turning to Shane in the passenger seat, his chair pulled back as far as possible to fit his long legs.

“A little bit of everyone,” Shane shrugged, “I only did a bit of time managing the humans but I enjoy earth more. But, uh, for the time I did; people who murder someone, as in, intentionally. Rapists, we’ve got a bunch of those. To keep it simple, people who hurt others to a certain degree.”

“So…” Ryan paused, “People who sin, like, sin according to the bible, they don’t go?”

“No Ryan, you won’t go to hell because you had sex before marriage,” Shane explained, “We’d get the entire load then, Christ.”

“There, you did it again.”

“What?”

“You said Christ,” Ryan said, biting his lip.

“Yes, well, am I now not allowed to?” Shane asked. They were both watching the man in front of them who was struggling to pay for his gas, probably getting his card declined by the machine or typing his code incorrectly.

“That’s not what I meant, I just sort of expected- you know what? Whatever,” Ryan snorted, scratching his arm.

Silence filled the car and Ryan stared out his side window, tapping his fingers against the wheel. Shane sighed again.

“Am I not enough demon for you, is that it?” he asked and Ryan hated how well he could read him.

“Well no, but in a way, yes? I just expected more,” he gestured with his hands, not sure what he actually meant.

“Evil?” Shane supplied and Ryan nodded.

“I can be plenty evil,” Shane said, “I have in the past. Now I just like to listen to music and laugh at dumb jokes. Laughing feels great, right?” he asked with a small smile and Ryan couldn’t hold back the surprised laugh that escaped him.

“Bullshit you’re a demon. You’re probably a trickster or an angel in disguise,” he joked but was surprised by the sour look Shane gave him in reply.

“I’m absolutely not one of those fart-smelling assholes up there. I like humans, you guys taste great,” Shane said, holding out his arms and Ryan gave him a wide-eyed look.

“I’m not gonna eat you, calm down,” Shane waved a hand, “Angels on the other hand don’t care and think they’re so great up there doing fuck knows what, probably nothing else than sucking their own cocks.”

“Jesus,” Ryan exhaled.

No matter how sacreligious he felt he couldn’t help but to chuckle at that. How had his life turned into this? Sitting in a dump gas station, making fun of angels with a demon while the sun stood high in the sky.


	2. Chapter 2

“Okay, but what about horns and wings and all that?” Ryan asked as he’d followed Shane into the break room, finding it empty. “Or forked tongues? Spiky tails?”

“I’m not a snake nor a dinosaur,” Shane said as he looked through the cupboard for a clean cup. He found two and handed Ryan the other, the Buzzfeed logo a bit faded from multiple washes.

“Come on,” Ryan pleaded. His initial fear from last week had disappeared as he’d spent the weekend thinking about it. His girlfriend had been gone on a business trip so Ryan had gotten a lot of time to think. He’d tried distracting himself with tv and video games, and while Morgan’s party Saturday evening along with the baseball games on tv did succeed in taking his mind of things for a while, his thoughts still went back to black flames.

“I’ll show you later, okay?” Shane instead promised to which Ryan felt his pulse quicken in reply, but on the outside he merely nodded. What if Shane looked horrifying? What if he didn’t have horns and rather looked like one of those Chinese demons with eyes looking all directions. Or maybe he had a horse head and a crocodile body. Ryan’s mind was going wild as he went back to his desk after getting his coffee, glancing at Shane who was back to editing his own video for Ruining History.

He’d said something about negative colors, though? Like Mr. Negative from the Spiderman comics?

Ryan didn’t get too much work done, and when he finally got into it TJ texted them announcing the room was ready for filming. Ryan had checked his cameras for what they filmed at the Chackel’s house and there was simply nothing. Like it truly never happened. TJ had briefly mentioned in their chat how they missed an episode because of the electrical failures the storm cause in LA and Ryan had been baffled to see that having been announced on their social media as well.

He had also checked Alex’s Twitter just because he couldn’t bare the thought that the guy had somehow never gotten out of the house. However, true to Shane’s words Alex seemed fine and was tweeting about music and new episodes for their show.

Ryan stretched his arms above his head, saving the projects on his laptop and trudging down the stairs after Shane. The lights were off in the hallway and Ryan hurried a little to reach the room. He knew the building still had some actual electrical failures since the storm.

Shane sat down, a hand under his chin as he watched TJ fiddle with the cameras. He looked rather bored and Ryan cleared his throat.

“Did you remember to check for some questions this time?” he asked him and Shane turned to him with a nod.

Ryan watched TJ attach the cords from the camera to his laptop, frowning at the screen.

“Do you want help?” Ryan asked, getting to a stand and TJ shook his head.

“I’m good, sit down.”

Ryan mouthed an ‘okay’ with raised eyebrows, wondering why everyone seemed to be in a bad mood today. Sure, it was Monday and still raining outside but other than that Ryan was clueless.

“You’re still curious?” Shane suddenly asked him and Ryan raised an eyebrow from where he looked up from his phone, “You still wanna know how my horns look?”

Ryan’s eyes widened and he quickly looked at TJ by the camera, their friend still fiddling with his laptop.

“He can’t hear,” Shane explained calmly and Ryan stared back and forth between them.

“TJ”? He asked and watched baffled as TJ continued working with the cables.

“So?” Shane asked, hand still resting in his chin like they were simply talking about the weather.

“Uh, s-sure?” Ryan asked, still glancing at their producer in front of them.

“I think he has somewhere to go for a minute,” Shane mused, a small smirk on his lips.

Ryan watched TJ suddenly stand up, stare at the wall for a second before mumbling aloud;  
“I think I have to go somewhere for a minute,” before leaving the room.

As soon as the door closed behind him Ryan stood up in his seat, gaping at Shane. “You can hypnotise people too?”

Shane looked at him like he was confused by Ryan was freaking out. “Yes? A little?”

“ _A little_? What the fuck does that mean?” Ryan exclaimed, realizing he was close to yelling by now.

“To a certain point. Yes, now please stop freaking out-”

“I have every right to freak out, Shane Madej,” Ryan barked back, watching Shane laugh in reply.

“Okay, sure man. But sit down. He’ll be back in a minute.”

Ryan sat down with a huff, unconsciously moving his chair a bit further from Shane. The demon observed him for a moment like he was waiting for something.

“Are you afraid?” he asked instead.

“No? Maybe a little,” Ryan settled for honestly. “You said you wouldn’t hurt me, so…”

“I won’t. Just like I trust you won’t hurt me, right?”

“How could I even do that?” Ryan asked, narrowing his eyes a little. Shane smiled again.

“What? You planning to if I tell you?”

“No, but I’m curious. You know how to kill humans, so wouldn’t it just be fair I knew how to kill you in turn?”

Shane laughed loudly and this time Ryan chimed in a little himself. It truly sounded dumb.

“So like, mutual, shared executional knowledge?” Shane suggested and Ryan snorted.

“Sure?”

“Well, I’m gonna be honest, but you couldn’t really kill me even if you tried. It’s loads more complicated than you think. A bunch of ingredients and knowledge for this recipe. A salt circle would keep me trapped and my powers in turn contained but I won’t die of age. Pure rosemary would lightly burn me but I heal pretty good. Your only possible action would be to get another demon stronger than me, and that in itself is an impressive feat.”

“Are you bragging, man? You’re the strongest demon out there?”

Shane rolled his eyes, “No, I meant it would be difficult for you to even find a demon.”

“Whatever,” Ryan concluded, spinning his phone on the table in front of them.

“Now, don’t freak out,” was all Shane said before the lights in the room started flickering before most of them went out, Ryan gasping. He pushed himself out from the table, staring at the floor in awe as black smoke seemed to seep out from the floor. He pulled his legs up onto his chair, bending his knees. The smoke that had reached his feet was icy cold rather than hot as he’d expected.

Ryan did a double take as he looked at Shane beside him, meeting eye to eye with someone he no longer recognized. Sure, it was his face and his clothes but his skin was dark and colorless, like a dark grey. He was still resting his head in his chin and his eyes were white, completely white. Ryan absently let out a small sound as he gazed up at the two black, large horns. So he did have horns.

Ryan swallowed. “So no wings?”

Shane tilted his head a little. “No wings. I don’t understand why I’d need to fly anywhere.”

“Probably something humanity came up with then,” Ryan breathed lightly.

Shane straightened up a little, bringing forwards his hands which he placed palm up on the table.

“I appear differently here than I do in hell, for some reason. But I’d have to say I’m more than this appearance. In short our beings itself exists more in…” he paused in thought, “my flames, for example.”

Black fire erupted from his palms in a loud crackling sound and Ryan absently jumped, staring at the flames. They were truly black, grey shadows shaping them, the same fire Ryan had seen at the Chackle’s house. Without thinking he reached forwards, brushing his hands close to the flames but far away from actually touching, and was surprised to feel cold again. Like he was rather close to a air conditioner on highest blast.

“Here,” Shane suddenly said and reached over and tilting one of his palms to the side, as if the fire was rather liquid. It fell from his hand into Ryan’s who panicked, trying to shake it off without success.

“Jesus, Shane! What the fuck,” he hissed, the cold feeling in his palm being similar to holding a snowball without gloves. Or more like he was holding his hand in front of hair dryer but it was set to cold air.

“It won’t hurt you,” Shane mused, watching Ryan stare at the black fire with wide eyes. He carefully set down his hand on the table, watching it flick and dance. Carefully he moved his other hand, trying to trace the moving flames with his fingers. It somehow didn’t feel that cold anymore. Or was he just getting used to it?

“It’s not as cold any longer, right?” Shane asked as if reading his mind. Ryan nodded in reply, glancing at his friend, still a bit put off by his appearance and Ryan involuntary did another double take to Shane’s amusement.

“It’s getting warmed by you,” the demon explained, head in his hand again, “Or rather, you’re feeding it your heat.”

“My body heat?” Ryan asked, trying to pass the fire to his other hand but it seemed stuck to his left palm, licking the sides of his hand as he turned it over, like it was clinging to him.

“It’s probably more likely the heat of your soul,” Shane assumed.

“Huh,” Ryan huffed. “Should I be worried? Is it… you know munching on my soul right now?”

Shane reached forwards and to Ryan’s surprise the flames moved away from him as his finger’s neared Ryan’s hand, as in fear.

“No. It’s too tiny to do anything else than stick to your heat. Also, your soul isn’t like, just one apple that it could take a bite off and then you’d be half an apple forever. Your soul is more like a burning… uh, like the sun. It regenerates, it’s constantly fed as you live and breathe and feel emotions and shit.”

“And shit,” Ryan repeated with a laugh. “That sounds kind of lame though.”

“That’s true but I don’t know how else to word it, man,” Shane hummed. “Souls are the most valuable things, and usually not exactly weak either.”

When Shane tried reaching for the fire again Ryan obliviously held his hand back, as if he could feel the small flame’s fear.

Shane raised an eyebrow to which Ryan just cleared his throat awkwardly.

“It’s like a little, pet, you know,” he tried and Shane looked unimpressed.

“It’s not a pet, it’s demon energy,” Shane explained and Ryan released a quiet “Oh.”

“You can have it,” Shane shrugged. He sighed and looked around the room, some of the lights turning on again. Ryan watched his horns sort of glitch into non-existence before disappearing as the light filled the room, the smoke at their feet fading away. Ryan glanced back at his palm where the flame was now gone, turning his hands over, wiggling his fingers.

Just before he could ask Shane anymore questions TJ barged into the room, cursing about forgetting something before he apologized for being late. Then he scolded them for not wearing their microphones yet. Ryan gave a small look Shane’s way, the other just smiling back.

-✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*-

“What is it?” Ryan asked, turning to Shane with a little annoyance. He had been staring at him for a while now. It was late in the office and most people had decided to leave. The BFU team would leave tomorrow for their shoot, this time staying in a relatively nice hotel. Of course, the history of what happened to the place wasn’t as nice.

“I’m just curious how you feel about tomorrow, since you know there won’t be any ghosts and whatnot,” Shane asked. Ryan glanced at one of the interns in the same room as them. She was wearing headphones but Shane shook his head, silently asking Ryan’s question.

“Well, how do you know there won't be? What if it’s something that you can’t see?” Ryan asked and Shane’s eye roll was overly dramatic.

“Are you serious? I’m a demon, Ryan. Did you already forget?”

“Well, no, but how are you so sure? I mean there’s so much evidence of ghosts out there, even if we ignore the- the stuff we’ve caught on the show.”

“It’s either fake or simply a coincidence. A lot of the time the people want to believe so bad that they see all kinds of stuff. I don’t want to break your heart but you do know how they get around it on ghost hunting tv shows?”

“How?” Ryan asked, his face a little sour.

“They don’t tell the actual actors, the investigators. They’re unaware and can therefor tell the truth in what they saw, because they’re unaware it’s the staff of the tv show that run around and slam doors, move objects and make noise.”

Ryan had read about that in his time researching. He was aware that was often the truth about ghost tv shows. He had been very clear when starting Unsolved that he did not, under any circumstance, fake any evidence. Now, he supposed he should feel happy because he knew ghosts and demons were at least real. But the truth was very far from what he’d imagined.

“But we could stumble upon demons then? Or entities like the one in the house?” Ryan tried and Shane made a small shrug.

“We could. Would be unlikely but it could happen. There was something in Waverly, for example. I could smell it, but I never found it.”

“There was? Are you serious?” Ryan’s eyes widened, a tingling excitement filling him.

“Yes, probably another entity. It was most likely hiding from me.”

“And you let me go into the rooms alone?” Ryan asked, glancing at his laptop screen as it dimmed because of inactivity. He furiously shook his mouse before it could go to sleep.

“It wouldn’t dare to do anything with me there,” Shane scoffed.

“Then what about the Cackle’s house-”

“At the Cackle’s house _someone_ trapped me in a salt circle to exorcise me even though I am not possessed because this, me,” he said, gesturing to his body,” is _me_ , not a vessel or whatever your religious fantasy books tell you how demons work. Said person also tried to deal with this entity by flicking water on it from a bottle bought of a halloween online store-”

“Okay, okay,” Ryan hurried, laughing a little, “I get you.”

Shane huffed in his seat and Ryan snorted.

“Anyway, I mean my world’s kind of been turned upside down, to be fair. And while I obviously believe you, what if- _what if_ , man?” Ryan insisted, “There could be ghosts too, right? You can never answer definitively you know there’s not.

Shane looked nonchalant. “Well, I think I rather can, as a demon, you know.”

“Humor me,” Ryan urged and Shane looked at him for a moment before shrugging.

“Sure. I don’t know everything.”

“And that’s it. Also,” Ryan perked up, “you said sometimes ghosts stay on the earth, even for a little while. Perhaps we’ll spot one of those. Or rather, even though I kind of don’t want to, we might run into more of those entities of evil intent or whatever.”

“We could, but I’m sad to let you know they probably won’t show themselves. Also, you probably realized this already, but I won’t let you broadcast to the world evidence if we actually found something,” Shane said, his tone serious.

Ryan knew this. He’d thought about it. The result if he tried would probably be the demon wiped his mind and he’d live in oblivion again. Ryan sighed.

“I know, but…” he started but trailed off, staring at the floor. Shane moved his foot, bumping his boot against Ryan’s similar one.

“Continue doing Unsolved, a lot of people believe you nonetheless, but this is pretty much what I meant when I asked you if you wanted me to erase your-”

“I know, and I don’t want that.” Ryan said with true determination in his voice. He had decided that already.

“But, Shane, what if… let’s say an entity is making noise in one of our future episodes. Will you magically remove that or do you want me to edit it out?”

“It probably won’t dare to come close in the first place, like I said,” Shane said but continued because of Ryan’s pleading look, “But if it does, I’ll humor you. Sure, keep that in. It’s the same as the dumb spirit box as long as you don’t get an actual shot of the creature. Is that a fair deal?”

“Sounds good,” Ryan said, smiling a little. His phone vibrated and he glanced at the screen as Shane turned back to his laptop, his screen showing an long text from his girlfriend about staying late at his job.

-✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*-

They had to take a plane to reach the haunted location. Ryan didn’t sleep very well on the plane even though it was traveling during the night. When they eventually landed five in the morning Ryan insisted he would sleep for a bit in the hostel since he barely got a minute’s sleep during the flight.

They’d booked the only available hostel which left Ryan and Shane sharing a room and Mark and Devon the other. It didn’t take long before Ryan fell asleep against the detergent-smelling pillows.

When he woke up he could tell it was midday or past that as the corners of the blinds let in light from the single window in the room. Turning around with a yawn he spotted Shane sitting on his bed on his laptop, still wearing his clothes.

“What time is it?” Ryan asked, his voice groggy. He still felt tired but knew it wouldn’t be wise to sleep for too long.

“Almost four,” Shane replied, looking over at him.

“Mhm,” Ryan hummed, realizing it was much later than he would’ve guessed. “I should probably get up.”

“Get a shower, Mark and Devon said we could leave a little earlier. There is this bar he wanted to check out before dinner,” Shane said, crossing his long legs on the bed. Ryan eyed him.

“What? Are you saying I stink?”

“No, you smell rather good,” Shane smiled, looking at Ryan over his glasses. Ryan spluttered for an answer but didn’t come up with one, instead walking over to his bag to loot through them for something nice to wear.

After his shower he dressed in what he thought was relatively nice. They would have a night out of partying before they started the shoot tomorrow. Ryan decided to not pick a white shirt incase he spilled alcohol on himself, which he had a tendency to do if he took shots.

The bar Mark wanted to go to was far away but they took a bus. It was cool; it had a rustic feel to it and while the drinks were pricey they were fucking delicious. Since drinking on an empty stomach wasn’t the best idea they all decided to only get one and share for taste testing. They also got some fun pictures.

Ryan fancied the whisky drink Shane had bought more than his own and was happy when Shane switched without as much as looking. Devon gave them an ‘aw’ aloud and Ryan tried to brush her off. He wasn’t sure why he was making it weird in the first place.

“Ryan,” Shane called, bringing him out of thought as the other’s stood from the table, having finished their meal. Ryan had chosen pizza at the restaurant that followed after the bar. He had finished first, now full and relatively buzzed because of the white wine he’d chosen with his food. It wasn’t his usual beverage to go with pizza, but Ryan wanted to get a little drunk. To get his mind off things. His girlfriend had been harassing him about several random things recently and Ryan hated how they never had time to meet, and when they did, they fought.

‘ _Arguing is normal. It means you love each other_ ’ he got as an answer when he googled it. Which didn’t help much.

And forget he did, that night. They were dancing, taking shots, having deep talks by a table when Devon’s feet hurt.

“Heels are dumb,” Ryan repeated and she rolled her eyes. Mark brushed his elbow against Devon’s and she smiled at him, Ryan averting his eyes. The wax cloth under his hands was sticky and Ryan wasn’t sure if it was spilled alcohol or the cleaner the bar used.

An hour or two later he stumbled out from the fourth bar where he’d only gotten a beer. The place was cheap but incredibly packed and Ryan couldn’t help but feel a little old as a group of young tourists stumbled inside.

“Hostel sound good, now, right?” Mark asked and Devon nodded with him, hanging a bit on his shoulder. Ryan felt like dancing a bit more but was probably the only one with energy because of his long nap earlier.

Together they walked back to the hostel, too lazy to check the bus timetables. Shane caught Ryan when he almost walked face-first into a sign, the group laughing about it for a good minute. The human snorted when Shane put his arms around his shoulder, a tingly feeling in his stomach. ‘Whatever’, he thought. He was drunk and it was late. It was nothing.

He couldn’t really remember getting to the hotel, but he remembered the palm trees in front of the building, how they looked in the street light. The OPEN sign was one shining in bright pink and Ryan watched Shane as he unlocked their door, Mark and Devon already up the stairs towards theirs.

“Do you think they’ll finally talk about it?” Ryan asked as he closed the door behind him. It was dark inside but the neon-like light filled their room from outside, shining through the striped blinds.

“I don’t know about _talking_ ,” Shane said and Ryan laughed, struggling a bit to remove his shoes. When he looked up the small lamp on the bedside table was also turned on.

“You know Devon’s kind of got a girlfriend, right?” Shane asked. Ryan straightened up after finally kicking his left boot off, stopping in his tracks as he found Shane standing right in front of him, closer than he’d expected.

“Does she? I mean I know she said she was bisexual…” Ryan trailed off, now with a frown on his face.

“She told me it’s complicated,” Shane said, tilting his head a little as he sometimes did. Ryan absently swallowed. Standing this close he had to lean his head back a bit to look him in the eyes.

“Sounds like it,” he said, his voice quieter than he had intended.

He closed his lips when he realized they were open, unintentionally licking the inside. The room suddenly felt colder, like a breeze passed them, and Ryan brought his arms up around himself.

“You cold?” Shane asked, still standing in his spot. Neither he nor Ryan tried to move, they just stood there, Ryan only swinging a little because of his drunkenness. He stared at the shadows and shapes on Shane’s face from the strong light outside.

“A little,” Ryan replied, his voice now a whisper. He looked down at the center of Shane’s chest, at his white shirt, and reached forwards. His hands were shaking, he realized. Gently grabbing onto his arm he realized he felt warm, not cold as he had expected.

“Ryan,” Shane said, his voice now deeper.

The human looked up, staring wordlessly into the face of a human-disguised demon, and if that didn’t make his stomach tingle he wasn’t sure what would.

Yet again Ryan licked his lips and hesitantly got onto his tiptoes, his grip on Shane’s arm tightening.

What the fuck were they doing?

A cold gust of air passed behind him again. Was the room darker around them?

The bedside light flickered, the electricity buzzing loudly.

What was he doing?

The wind picked up outside, the sound of a storm nearing from far, far away. And their lips met.

Shit.

Shane didn’t taste like nothing; he tasted like beer and cranberry-vodka, and his lips were a lot more gentle than Ryan had expected. A lot more gentle than he wanted. Than he needed.

Releasing a loud inhale into the room Ryan reached up to pull on his tall friend’s neck, to pull him down and meet him more properly. A hand fell onto his hips and Ryan felt dizzy as their kissing turned into straight out making out, on Ryan’s plea. Shane felt stronger than he looked and Ryan fought a little for dominance before pressing his body flush against him, bending his back.

“Fuck,” was the first thing he said as he pulled away for air, still pressed flush against the other. Shane loomed over him before something like determination appeared in his eyes and he leaned down to pick Ryan up. The human wasn’t expecting it and released something close to a surprised scream, clinging onto the other, legs around his middle. Shane carried him to the bed, laying them both down and then he pressed down. Ryan threw his head back, moaning loudly at the feeling.

“Fuck yes,” he breathed, forgetting he even spoke the words a second later. He felt mad, completely uncaring of anything or anyone except the demon in front of him. Leaning up he tugged on his hair, holding Shane’s head back as he sucked on his neck, nipped at his chin and scratched his lips on his stubble.

A low growling sound left Shane who looked down at Ryan, eyes narrowing like a hunting animal. Another shiver ran down Ryan’s body and he sucked in more air as Shane moved again.

It was dark.

It was both hot and cold at the same time, and Ryan was sure he saw black flames around them.

-✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*-

“Shit,” Ryan said, looking away from his reflection in the mirror. He couldn’t look at himself. His eyes were tearing up, he could feel it. None fell but a sort of panic had grown in his stomach since he woke up naked at seven in the morning.

He’d rolled off the bed and hurried in the bathroom, only getting a glance at the shape beside him. Now he was hiding in the bathroom, unsure what to do.

Should he call her? Immediately? Should he… pretend it didn’t happen?

Ryan forced himself to calm down and sit down. He would throw up otherwise, between the guilt and the hangover clouding over him.

He put his head in his hands, running his fingers through his hair.

It took him a good couple minutes and a shower before he dared outside, one towel around his body and one over his shoulders.

As expected Shane was awake, looking at him from the bed. The white sheets had fallen from his body as he must’ve sat up at some point, covering his lower half but not his chest. Ryan unintentionally released a breath as he realized Shane’s horns were out, spiraling from his hair. Other than that he looked like his human-self.

Ryan avoided his eyes as he rummaged through his bag for clean underwear, putting some on while still wearing the towel. When he was done he wasn’t sure if he should go back to the bed he knew was warm, or crawl down in the second, still made and wrinkle-free bed. Ryan’s cap and his headphones lied in the middle of it.

“Aren’t you going to say anything?” Ryan asked, his voice coming out a bit too harsh than he’d intended.

Shane blinked from the bed, reaching up to ruffle his own hair, Ryan staring at his horns. The ends didn’t look especially sharp but somehow they kept him from relaxing.

“What do you want me to say, Ryan?”

“I don’t know,” Ryan admitted, sitting down on the edge of his made bed, moving his cap out of the way. It was the one with Buzzfeed Unsolved logo and he traced the embroidery with his fingers.

“So you regret it,” Shane said. It wasn’t a question.

Ryan winced at the words but didn’t reply, fiddling with the cap. He was still a little drunk, but much more aware now.

“Wouldn’t it be nice if you couldn’t feel remorse?” Shane asked and Ryan finally looked up at him, waiting for him to continue.

“Would you like that?” Shane asked, turning his head to meet Ryan’s eyes.

His heartbeat was speeding as Ryan glanced down at his cap again, waving it in the air a couple times before tossing it back on his bed. Walking over he kneed on the other bed, bravery somehow filling his as he shrugged the towel over his shoulders off. Shane reached for him, placing his hand on Ryan’s hip, thumb sneaking under the hem.

“What would that imply? Without regret I wouldn’t really be human,” Ryan said, licking his lips. It sounded incredibly tempting in the situation at hand but a second voice in his head was warning him.

“What about this,” Shane mused as he reached up with his other hand, pushing Ryan’s hair back. “What if I… fell for you? In the closest possible way I could, to how a human can.”

Ryan looked down at the sheets again, frowning. “Don’t force yourself.”

“I’m not. I like you, I’ll even say you’re my favorite human. I might’ve even gotten a little possesive over the last months.”

“What if I don’t like you in return?” Ryan forced himself to ask, somehow feeling like being a little defiant was fine. “I know it’s not a reason to… to cheat on someone, but I was drunk yesterday.”

Shane smirked at him and it made hairs on Ryan’s neck stand.

“It’s pretty clear you’ve got a demon kink at least.”

Ryan gasped. “What the fuck? I do not!”

Shane lifted his eyebrows in silence, in taunt, and Ryan pressed his lips together, trying to will the redness away.

“Here, sit down, I’ll show you something,” Shane said after a minute, holding up the sheets. Ryan obeyed and threw the towel aside before sitting down next to him, the pillow behind his back. He was glad to get the conversation gone and never for it to return. Demon kink? What the hell even was that? Ryan thought about Shane’s horns, his, sure, impressive strength, the tingle in stomach when he first saw the black flames-

The bedside lamp beside them turned on and Ryan was slightly startled, Shane just chuckling at him.

“Come on, warn me when you do those things,” he hissed and Shane hummed a half-assed “Sure.”

“Here,” he started instead, gently grabbing Ryan’s hand, “turn it over with your palm up.”

Ryan did as told, placing his left hand on the covers, palm up. He couldn’t deny that Shane had gotten Ryan to forget about his worries for a moment. He was waiting for Shane to pass him another black flame but when the other did nothing but stare at Ryan he eventually shot out a “What?”

“You still have that fire; bring it out,” Shane said as if it was the easiest thing to do.

“And how would I do that?” Ryan asked, brows furrowing.

“Mean it,” Shane shrugged and Ryan rolled his eyes. He stared at his palm, remembering the feeling of the black flame in his hand, how it first was cold as snow and then adjusted to him. Warm, he thought.

He felt incredibly silly as he tried _meaning it_ and wished for the flames to erupt in his hands again, and almost pulled his hand back when they actually did. Like someone held a match to gas flowing it appeared out of nowhere, flickering from his fingers.

“Whoa,” Ryan breathed, turning his palm over again. Shane reached over and this time clamped his hand over Ryan’s before he could pull it away. He squeezed his hand before removing it. A small crack was heard before the flames burned bright blue for a second, but as Shane pulled his hand back they returned to black. Ryan turned his hand over again.

“What did you do?” he asked, staring as if hypnotized into the flames. _His_ flames.

“It’s hungry, though not for warmth anymore, but for fear and worries,” Shane explained and Ryan raised an eyebrow at him.

“Did you change it’s diet?” Ryan asked and expected the laugh that came in reply.

“Well, sure. Can’t have your _pet_ getting fat.”

Ryan rolled his eyes.

“It might eat your unwanted remorse, who knows,” Shane said and Ryan turned his head to look at him. His eyes traveled upwards to discover his horns were gone. Shane gave him a small smile before he shuffled down the bed to lie down again. The human watched him as he settled before turning back to his small fire. It licked his fingers and it still felt comfortably warm against his skin.

Ryan had to admit playing with fire didn’t feel as dangerous as he’d expected.

“You’re happy, huh?” he absently asked, reaching over it to watch it reach for his other hand as well. “Guess I have a lot of what you eat.”

Ryan closed his eyes with a sigh. Unwanted or not, however, was the issue. With a quiet ‘fuck it’ he told himself he didn’t want the worry, at least for now.

He almost gasped at the sudden feeling of something lifting off his shoulders. Like a headache loosening or his lungs inhaling air after he’d been underwater. And the flames danced wildly in his hand.

-✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*-

The car was bumping as they rolled out of the hostel parking lot, Ryan beside Shane in the back, Devon chatting loudly in the front.

“Can,” Ryan tried, his voice a whisper, “Can we speak in private for a minute,” he tried to discreetly ask Shane as he glanced at Mark in the rearview mirror. Ryan listened to their voices but suddenly found them sounding muted, or rather like he couldn’t properly parse what they were saying, rather just hear the sounds they made.

“What is it?” Shane asked after a moment, eyes on Ryan.

The human swallowed. “So, I spoke to her yesterday… and she sort of suggested it first. That we take a break.”

“Did you tell her what happened?” Shane asked, Ryan wincing at the words but shook his head.

“I told her it wasn’t working, but that we should talk about it when I get back. I’m… I don’t want to be the guy who breaks up over phone.”

“Well, now you kind of are,” Shane said but he was wearing a small smile.

“Sure, okay, whatever. I’m a cheating son of a bitch,” he said, voice sour.

“If it’s any consolation I _am_ a demon after all,” Shine smirked and Ryan bit his lip and looked out the window, ignoring the shiver that ran down his back. He somehow felt like his small fire was still at work inside him, because he didn’t quite feel as worried as he should when Shane slid his hand over into his in the backseat.

-✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*-

The filming of the episode went rather well. Ryan didn’t get as much evidence as he wanted, and the words spit out from the spirit box were a reach, even to him, but the location was spooky enough.

“No entities here?” Ryan asked, watching Shane shake his head.

They had decided they would sleep in the haunted hotel, and for the room with the spooky history of murders and manslaughter there was only a double bed. They set up a camera with night vision at the foot and Ryan raised a brow at how it looked.

In the bathroom he stared at his left hand as he brushed his teeth with the other. He tried to summon the fire again, even closing his eyes, but it didn’t seem to want to. He somehow felt resistance, in a weird way. Like defiance when he tried.

“My fire won’t appear,” he said when he exited, realizing he sounded a bit like a whining child.

“Perhaps it doesn’t want to,” Shane suggested from the bed.

“Doesn’t want to?” Ryan asked and walked to the end of the bed.

“Perhaps you have to lure it out with food,” Shane mused, eyes still on his phone.

Ryan frowned but thought about it. Was he worried? Or rather, did he want to worry? He glanced at Shane who moved to the center of the bed, sitting with his legs stretched out. Ryan felt his face redden and yes, he certainly felt nervous. This was dangerous territory, he knew. If it happens once; you’re an idiot but perhaps it could be forgiven. Twice; you’re long gone and going to hell.

“Come here,” Shane said and suddenly the lights dimmed, the electrical buzzing of the lamps reminding Ryan of last time.

“We’re being recorded,” Ryan said but something in the back of his mind told him he should be aware Shane could take care of it by now.

“ _Come here_ ,” Shane repeated, narrowing his eyes.

Ryan took a deep breath, fingers twitching by his sides. With a short laugh he let his last worries go and something in his chest warmed up, a good feeling tingling down his arms into his hands. He had to get used to that.

“I feel like I’m fucking playing with the devil itself,” Ryan said, feeling slightly mad as he climbed onto the bed in a room that held history of gruesome murders. And Ryan wasn’t scared anymore.

“Close enough,” Shane grinned, pulling Ryan into his lap as soon as he could reach him.

“This is so stupid,” Ryan breathed against Shane’s lips before being pulled into a rough kiss. “This is- I’m so- stupid, aren’t I?” he asked between their lips.

“A little,” Shane said and Ryan couldn’t help but to laugh, pushing against his shoulder. The taller leaned back, Ryan instantly noticing his horns again. He reached forwards, brushing his fingers through his hair, carefully trailing them up. Feeling experimental he grabbed onto both and brought Shane’s mouth back against his, grinning into the kiss.

The demon’s hands were on his hips, digging into the fabric of his pajama bottoms, urging Ryan to move. When he did they both grunted into the kiss, Ryan instinctively moving his hips again. This had to an incredible amount of sins he was committing at the same time.

“F-fuck,” he breathed, letting Shane sit back again. He ran his hands down his chest, trying to swallow between panting, circling his hips against Shane’s.

Ryan felt like he was on fire, his face probably intensely flushed as he stared eye to eye with the other. He kept eye contact, lowering his chin where he leaned back, placing his hands on the demon’s thighs, daring to grind down further, arching his back. Shit, Ryan hadn’t even kissed a man before Shane, how had this escalated this quickly. He wasn't even drunk this time. Perhaps he was a little high of the demon fumes, he convinced himself.

Something moved in the corner of his eyes and Ryan turned his head to look at the black smoke which was once again back, covering the floor, only visible because of the dimmed light by the door still lit. It looked like the night sky was under them.

“Eyes here, Ryan,” Shane mumbled and Ryan obeyed without second thought. He could feel his cock strain in his underwear and he roughly pressed down, riding Shane with more determination.

“I’m… Fuck, I’m gonna cum,” he hissed, finally breaking eye contact to throw his head back. His thighs were starting to cramp a little and when Shane took hold of Ryan’s hips to grind upwards he let go with a loud moan.

“Fucking Christ,” he gasped, having to brace himself against the other’s shoulders, nearly knocking his forehead into one of the horns.

“He can’t save you now,” Shane chuckled against Ryan, grabbing strands of his hair to pull him close and whisper in his ear. “You’re mine now.”

All the pleasure, a little bit of pain and overwhelming emotions. Ryan felt like he’d succumbed to the evil side, even if it felt comical. Perhaps he’d actually lost his soul when he broke that salt line, perhaps the second he shook hands with Shane Madej the first time they met. As he pulled the demon back up into a kiss, held by the horns, Ryan found that he didn’t care. What was madness anyway? He sure didn’t care.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you liked it or have any criticism, please please leave a comment~  
> Thanks so much for reading ♡


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